Saturday, May 24, 2008

UFC 84 lived up to all the hype as all the fights broadcast were entertaining. Quick knockouts, submissions, the end of Tito Ortiz' UFC legacy, and the cementing of BJ Penn's UFC legacy. This was the best card of the year featured a whopping nine fights on the broadcast.

BJ Penn def. Sean Sherk via TKO, R3 5:00- This fight made the card the best so far this year. Excellent three round stand-up battle. BJ and Sherk boxed the duration of the bout as Sherk tried to get only a couple takedowns. BJ attempted one which did not land. BJ landed strong snapping jabs, damaging Sherk's face repetitively through the night. You really didn't know how hard the jabs were landing until they showed Sherk's face afterwards.

Sherk threw haymakers and attempted to get inside throughout the fight, but they mainly missed or were blocked. You could hear by snapping sounds that Sherk's punches were strong. They end came with seconds left in the third, as BJ landed a beautiful combo dazing Sherk which was followed by a flying knee and strikes. The bell sounded and Sherk looked as if he didn't know he had been saved by the bell. With Sherk still dazed and BJ looking on, the ref did the smart thing and called the fight. Afterwards, BJ was respectful and invited Sherk to Hawaii to train with him.*MMA Blaster pollsters correct 23-9 Penn.

Lyoto Machida def. Tito Ortiz via unanimous decision (all 30-27)- Lyoto fought an elusive yet snapping karate style. Machida hit Tito's legs with kicks all through the fight. Some of the high kicks looked to almost sneak in. Machida was able to get a takedown on Ortiz and deny all Tito's takedown attempts. Machida's big hit was a crushing knee to Tito's liver in the third. Tito was crumpled, and looked to be in serious trouble as Machida rained down strikes. In dramatic fashion, Tito came very close to getting a triangle with seconds left, and then arm-bar. Lyoto, didn't tap and got the victory.

*Lyoto's striking style and excellent takedown defense will frustrate wrestlers, ground fighters, and aggressive stand-up fighters. *During a long post fight interview, Tito said he will be fighting for another 3-4 years.*Tito's shirt said, "I did it my way." A sharp contrast from the weigh-in shirt, "Dana White is my Bitch."

Wanderlei Silva def. Keith Jardine via TKO, R1 :36- Jardine came out to a crazy bag pipe song while Wanderlei opted up tempo Zombie Nation. Silva landed some absolutely nasty strikes in this bout. Jardine threw a leg kick that was perfectly countered by Silva, as a shot landed flush on Jardine's face. Jardine was hurt and Wandy took advantage pouncing and throwing more bombs. Jardine's eye's rolled back, and it was a little scary for a second, but Jardine eventually walked out under his own power. *UFC KO of the night bonus.

Goran Reljic def. Wilson Gouveia via TKO, R2 3:15- The 24 year old Reljic has been hyped quite a bit regarding his striking and undefeated record. From the start of the bout, Reljic threw powerful kicks to the head and body of Gouveia. At the end of the first, Gouveia came back with some flurry's of punches to Reljic that seemed to give him the momentum.

In the second Gouveia seemed to get the best of it standing, got a takedown and had Reljic near the end of his rope. After a scramble, Reljic landed a massive left hand, then a barrage of hammerfists and punches forcing a TKO stoppage.*UFC Fight of the night bonus given to both fighters.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida def. John Koppenhaver via sub. (anaconda choke), R1 :56- We were able to see this fight after the BJ Penn fight. Yoshida got a judo throw to a gator roll anaconda choke. Herb Dean saw that War Machine lost consciousness and was out of commission. He made the right move calling the bout. Yoshida did not have much to say afterwards and actually seemed confused that Joe Rogan would want to ask him questions.

Shane Carwin def. Christian Wellisch via KO, R1 :43- We actually got to see this fight on the ppv and dang!!! Carwin dropped Wellish at 43 seconds in the first round with a vicious right straight directly to the chin. Wellish's mouthpiece shot out of his mouth bouncing off the canvas as Wellish's body hit the ground seconds later. The stands were pretty empty at this point and the fans should feel bad for missing such a nasty KO. I don't understand why fans miss the opening fights.Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou def. Kazuhiro Nakamura via TKO(leg injury), R1 5:00- Sokoudjou dished out quite a bit of leg kick variations smashing Nakamura's legs. He seemed to pack some power behind the shots. Near the 4th minute Sokoudjou seemed to fade and favor a taped knee. After one of the shots landed and dropped, Nakamura's knee seemed to buckle. The bout was called shortly thereafter. Nakamura wasn't knocked out, but the injury was too much for the ref to allow him to continue.

*David Spade was there and was holding a mini-whiskey bottle, probably Jack Daniels.*The Rock was there was extremely pearly whites.*Shaq was in full in attendence. I wouldn't want to be seated behind Shaq.*Former UFC Heavyweight Champ and Celebrity Rehab castmate Ricco Rodriguez was in Tito's corner. *Laura Prepon from that 70's Show was seated next to Spade.*Mandy Moore was there with some hot hot friends.*The first hour saw less than 20 minutes of fight time, but 9 fights made the broadcast.*Steve Mazzagati ref'd without the moustache*In the crowd was Urijah Faber whom Joe Rogan interviewed. Apparently Urijah went to Hawaii to train. WEC got some press during the ppv. Jens seemed excited and ready to go. Versus got quite a bit of advertising. *As usual, tons of filler and advertising. *Actor Jason Statham was .

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

After tonight's episode of The Ultimate Fighter only 8 fighters remain in the TUF tournament. In the final prelim fight, CB Dollaway was able to dominate Nick Klein in the first round with a barrage of elbows, leg kicks and punches. As usual, Steve Mazagatti had to warn about punching to the back of the head.

In the second round CB pressed the action even more eventually sinking in a guillotine choke for the tapout. To his credit, Nick Klein was able to fight back pretty well and took quite a bit of punishment. The closest Klein came to victory was an attempted knee-bar in the first.

Rampage gave some expert advice when CB was encountered with a deep kimura attempt barking, "put yo' knee on dat elbow!" Needless to say, CB was able to escape.

Roy Nelson was victorious against TUF season 2 alum Brad Imes to defend his IFL HW belt. Even though he took an Imes knee and a couple punches, Nelson's stand-up was precise. Nelson looks to have a chin of granite, and he hits like a dump truck. With how thin the UFC HW division is getting, Nelson should be a guy on their radar.

Friday, May 16, 2008

WEC 34 bouts as listed on wec.tv. WEC 34 takes place in Las Vegas on June 1st.

FW (145) Championship- Urijah Faber (20-1) vs. Jens Pulver (22-8)- This should be an absolute war between two of the best at 145. Faber has rattled off 12 straight wins including 5 in the WEC. Pulver has yet to lose at 145 and is considered a legend of sport. Pulver will most likely try to keep the bout standing, and Faber will try for a takedown to ground and pound. It will be exciting.

BW (135) Championship- Miguel Torres (33-1) vs. Yoshiro Maeda (22-4)- Torres has been on fire at 135, after competing mainly at heavier weights. Torres have 14 or so wins in a row, depending on what database you look at. Torres looked fast and powerful in his recent destruction of Chase Beebe. Pancrase veteren Maeda won his only fight in the WEC with a vicious body kick to Charlie Valencia.

Mark Munoz (3-0) vs. Chuck Grigsby (15-3)- Both fighters are making their much anticipated debut's in the WEC. Grigsby at 6'6" is a powerful striker who will have a reach advantage. Look for Grigsby to try to keep the fight standing and land some heavy right hands and knees. Munoz is a decorated NCAA wrestler, and will probably go for the takedown. For a full length exclusive on Grigsby, scroll down.

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Elite XC will debut Saturday May 31st on CBS. The fights will be taking place in Newark, New Jersey. Promoter Gary Shaw expects a sellout. He better also help for weather that keeps people indoors on a Saturday night.

Champ Robbie Lawler (16-4) vs. Scott Smith (13-4)- This Middleweight championship fight will most likely be another stand-up brawl. Both guys are known for standing and trading. Lawler's background in Miletich Fighting would lead you to believe he may try to bring the fight to the ground. *Promo pic of Robbie Lawler

Kimbo Slice (2-0) v. James Thompson (14-8)- Kimbo and Thompson will more than likely stand and trade punches. The fighter that is able to land more will win, and from what we have seen of Thompson there is a good chance he is the one going down. He has lost his last two fights by way of KO. Kimbo is coming off KO wins of Bo Cantrell and Tank Abbott.

Gina Carano (5-0) vs. Kaitlin Young (4-1)- Gina Carano hasn't fought since September of 2007 and has done two seasons of American Gladiators since. Carano will be cutting to make 140 and Young normally fights at 135, so Carano will probably have a strenght advantage. Carano will likely impose her will and utilize her muay thai background. In her last fight, Young lost in BoDog to Sara Schneider. Carano has beaten four quality opponents in a row in Rosi Sexton, Elaina Maxwell, Julie Kedzie and Tonya Evinger. *MMA Blaster supports women's mma, and is happy to see women on the main card. I do think that Elite XC should try to get some talent from Japan and have a 140 class and a 120 class. Megumi Fugii and Satoko Shinashi are solid, as well as Tara LaRosa.

Jon Murphy (4-2) vs. Brett Rogers (6-0)- Brett "Grim" Rogers will look to stand and drop bombs on Murphy. Rogers stands 6'5" and just makes th 265 pound cutoff. Murphy will probably give up two to three inches and 20 to thirty pounds to Rogers. The fight will probably result in a KO if Murphy cant take down Grim. In his last fight Rogers knocked out Kimbo's opponent, James Thompson.

Phil Baroni (10-9) vs. Joey Villasenor (25-6)- The ever confident Baroni has predicted a knock out victory in the first round. That shouldn't come to a surprise with anyone that is familiar with the New York Bad Ass. Villasenor recently won in Strikeforce against Ryan Jensen (11-4).

Thursday, May 8, 2008

The sixth episode of The Ultimate Fighter got off to a bang. The fight between the ever intense Matt Brown and obnoxious Jeremey May promised to be one fought with malice. Pre-fight Brown discussed his run-ins with the law, brushes with death and drug and alcohol problems. During the training clip, you saw him go head to head with Forrest for some time after the bell. Brown's teammates have the utmost respect for him, and make some Chuck Norris like jokes about him.

Conversely, May seems to be hated by just about everyone in the house. The lime juice in the dip pissed Brown off, but everyone in the house seems to be annoyed with him. Riddle willfully gave Brown information that May had suffered a knee injury (which May later said wasn't bad). Furthermore, in training, May hasn't been doing much of anything except ride a stationary bike.

The fight kicked off to May throwing some big unorthodox hay makers. As the punches and kicks came, Brown blocked them and denied May's offense. As Jeremy May ran out of gas, Brown brought the pain, and a couple knees and a kick to the face later, the fight was over. Brown had ice on his foot and 10K in his pocket, and May had a broken nose and ego.

The second fight saw Daniel Cramer fight Luke Zacharich. The fight broiled down to a Frye v. Takayama slug fest. Pretty boy Cramer can really take a shot, as can Zacharich. After both burned a significant amount of energy in the first, Cramer took advantage. After getting the mount, he worked over Zacharich for the TKO victory.

I was very happy to see Rampage get a victory. Rampage's impromptu break down of the Cramer v. Zacharich was pretty funny. His spirits were lifted to say the least. Here is a recap and breakdown of who is left in the tournament:

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Here is the fight card for UFC 84 as stated on ufc.com. The event is scheduled for Saturday, May 24th in Las Vegas.

Champ B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk- Bad blood is brewing for this lightweight title fight. Penn has looked crisp and athletic at 155, especially in his submission victories over Joe Stevenson and Jens Pulver. Sherk has had quite a bit of distraction since his victory over Hermes Franca at UFC 73.

Keith Jardine vs. Wanderlei Silva- Wanderlei is in desperate need of a victory, while Jardine is seeking to get to contender status. Dana wouldn't mind seeing either fighter win, as a Silva win would lock a rematch with Rampage Jackson.

Lyoto Machida vs. Tito Ortiz- Machida is undefeated in the UFC with four straight victories. Ortiz is on the last fight of his contract, and more than likely will pull off some sort of stunt. He will not bow gracefully into potential free agency like Arlovski.

Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic Gouveia has four straight stoppage wins in the UFC after his decision loss to Keith Jardine. His latest was a TKO of Jason Lambert. Reljic is 7-0 but has faced less than steller competition. Reljic comes out of Gracie Barra and has five submission wins, 3 armbars, on his record.

Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes- 12-0 Thiago Silva is the favorite in this 205 pound fight. Silva is 3-0 in the UFC, and most recently TKO'd Houston Alexander in the first round.

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Here is a bout from the Shamrock v. Le Strikeforce Event. Mike Kyle (9-7) is a 2-1 in the UFC and also has wins in Pancrase and the WEC. Wayne Cole (11-6) has fought in the IFL and Masters of the Cage.

Monday, May 5, 2008

This video is from the Abu Dhabi Combat Club Submission Wrestling Championships. The open weight or absolute division brings match-ups like Hughes v. Tito or Ricco Rodriguez v. Dennis Hallman. Mark Kerr is currently 13-1 at ADCC, with quite a few titles.

Team Revolution fighter T.J. O'Brien ran throught the MCC featherweight tournament with a pair of triangle choke victories. Nick Walker was put to sleep and Will Shutt had to tap in losing to O'Brien in the first round. The tournament win should put O'Brien in line for a shot at the featherweight title.

Sergei Kharitonov (15-3) is a Russian born heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter. The Russian Top Team product is still on active duty with Russia's Airborne Troops division. Like most Russian fighters, Sergei started out in combat Sambo in his later teens along with boxing. He has been a training partner with Fedor Emelianenko. He has notable wins over Semmy Schilt, Fabricio Werdum, Pedro Rizzo, Alistair Overeem, Mike Russow and Ninja Rua. Sergei's last fight was in September 07 in K1 Hero's, now Dream.

Roger Huerta (20-1, 6-0 UFC) and Kenny Florian (9-4, 7-2 UFC) have emerged as the frontrunners in the 155 pound division. Florian has won four straight, all finishes, after his loss to Sean Sherk. Huerta has six straight victories, four ending by early stoppage. Huerta is coming off a battle with Clay Guida in which he may have been down the first two rounds. Huerta was eventually able to get the rear naked choke for the come from behind victory.

*Close behind would have to be Tyson Griffin (11-1, 4-1 UFC) who has three straight decision victories over quality competition.

*Nate Diaz (9-2, 4-0 UFC) needs to fight Tyson Griffin, Florian or Huerta as he is ready to fight the top tier competition. All his victories have come by submission.

*5'6" Frank Edgar (8-1, 3-1 UFC) may want to move to the 145 division after being bullied by Gray Maynard. The time is right for the UFC to start a 145 division bringing over Faber, Pulver and Garcia.

Friday, May 2, 2008

With the number of talented heavyweight prospects on the decline, Elite XC has two of the sports brightest. No, I'm not talking about over hyped Kimbo Slice. Rather, Brett "the Grim" Rogers (6-0) and David "Pee Wee" Herman (10-0). In their 16 respective fights, all have ended early, without a judge's decision. Both are also have height, each standing 6'5".

At Elite XC's "Street Certified" event, the heavy-handed Rogers was able to KO Kimbo's next opponent in the first round, James Thompson. Rogers next fights John Murphy in the May 31st CBS show. Meanwhile, Herman was able to TKO Mario Rinaldi in the third round. Herman is scheduled to fight Ron Waterman on June 14th in Elite XC Hawaii.

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